Lover Be Mine A Legendary Lovers Novel - By Nicole Jordan Page 0,12
silence drew out.
“No.”
At his swift reply, a sound of exasperation escaped Skye’s throat. “Why not? Surely you can see she is worthy of becoming a Wilde. She is as far from a greedy, spineless twit as one can get. On the contrary, she is quite lively and speaks her own mind, in addition to being kind and caring and a genuinely good person.”
Witness Miss Fortin’s unusual efforts to aid her pregnant maid in spite of her parents’ moral outrage, Jack reflected. She had that interest in common with him at least. Indeed, she fit the requisites of his legendary lover in several respects.
“How do you know so much about her?” he asked Skye. “She claims she wasn’t allowed to fraternize with our family.”
“Why, Katharine, of course. Given how inbred our social circles are, it was easy for Kate to investigate Miss Fortin thoroughly. This past season, we often attended the same balls and functions, and we’ve watched her closely, ever since she burst onto the scene and took the ton by storm.”
Reading his resolute expression, Skye continued pressing her case. “You even live at Montagu Place, although the spelling is different. That seems prophetic to me.”
Jack let out a snort of laughter. “Simply because I live on a certain street hardly means we are destined for each other.” When Skye started to respond, he held up a hand. “What of all the impediments to a courtship? Have you forgotten the feud? Why in deuces would I want to marry into the family of our worst enemy?”
“I know there is bad blood between our families—Oh, that reminds me …”
Skye suddenly held up the book she had been reading in the drawing room, which she’d carried into the kitchens—a small, worn, leather-bound volume that was faded with age.
“I also came here this evening to give you this journal. Apparently it is the diary of our great-uncle, Philip Wilde—the one who shot Sophie’s great-grandfather in a duel.”
Jack eyed the journal suspiciously. “Where did you get that?”
“Uncle Cornelius remembered seeing it gathering dust among the many tomes in the Beauvoir library. So yesterday he traveled all the way to Kent to fetch it for you. See, even our elderly bachelor uncle wants you to have a chance at true love.”
It surprised Jack that his uncle would go to such trouble for the sake of romance. The Beaufort and Traherne family estates were situated in adjoining neighborhoods in Kent, and after the anguishing loss of their parents, the children had been brought together in one household under the legal guardianship of their remaining uncle, Lord Cornelius Wilde.
Yet the renowned scholar preferred to keep his nose buried in books and had no earthly notion how to raise five high-spirited youngsters “who ran about like a pack of savages,” according to his most frequent lament. And now that they were fully grown, Uncle Cornelius retreated into his books as much as possible.
Skye’s blue eyes were dancing, but Jack resisted the urge to show his own amusement as she continued.
“I read some of the journal tonight while waiting for you to return home. It is rather dry, until you come to the part where Philip Wilde falls in love. The young lady in question had drawn the eye of Gideon Fortin, Baron Harbage, who was Sophie’s great-grandfather—”
“Why the devil does it matter what is in the journal?” Jack asked, finishing his drumstick and wiping his mouth and fingers on a napkin.
“It might help your suit to understand the origins of the quarrel. And you can always question Uncle Cornelius further. He is well-steeped in family lore—”
“My suit? Skye, love, I have no suit with Miss Fortin.”
“Not yet, but you could easily initiate one. As for the feud, I cannot believe you would let that stand in your way if you truly wished to win her.”
“I wouldn’t, but you presume I want to win her.”
Despite the appeal of finding his ideal mate, he wasn’t interested in experiencing true love. After the deaths of his beloved mother and, later, his cherished adopted parents, he’d learned it was far easier to avoid the pain of caring. And yet …
The Wilde clan believed in living every moment of life with passion, regardless of the risk, and he was a Wilde through and through. Even if he’d vowed never to follow the example his mother had set, throwing away her heart so foolishly.
Shrugging off that wayward thought, Jack put forward another argument. “You said yourself, her parents want her to wed a nobleman.”